1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to toys and sporting goods. More particularly, the invention relates to a hand-held launcher that may be used to fling a missile or other projectile in a game or competition. The launcher and projectile cooperate in such a way that the projectile remains on the launcher until the user reaches the end of the flinging action, which increases the predictability, consistency, and controllability of the flinging action and the resulting trajectory of the projectile.
2. Related Art
Several throwing toys are described in patent literature. For example, toys typically called “throwing sticks” have been patented by Von Hoffmann (U.S. Pat. No. 1,168,808, Jan. 18, 1916), Waller (U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,148, Mar. 29, 1955), Waller (U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,023, Sep. 1, 1959), McCreary, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,777, Aug. 9, 1966), Lee (U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,765, Aug. 12, 1975), Hoffman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,292, Oct. 15, 1974), Woolard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,371, Dec. 21, 1982), and Woolard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,905, Jan. 3, 1989).
Von Hoffmann is an early example of throwing sticks, wherein a ball or arrow slides freely on the stick in either direction, and is flung toward a target by a user. McCreary discloses an airplane that is thrown off of a stick, which stick appears to be tapered to a small diameter toward its distal end, so that airplane-stick contact is minimal especially at the distal end of the stick. Both Von Hoffmann and McCreary portray the stick as being held only generally upright in the rearward portion (“pull-back” or “wind-up”) of the throwing motion, as it appears that the ball, arrow, and airplane would fall off the stick if the distal end of the stick were pointed any direction other than up. In both Von Hoffmann and McCreary, as in typical for throwing sticks, the stick is at least several times longer than the length/diameter of the object being flung.
Some of the throwing sticks make an attempt to hold the object to be flung on the stick until release, by means other than pointing the stick upwards and relying on gravity. Waller ('148) provides a portion (Waller call-out number 25) of the bore of the ball that has a reduced diameter that frictionally engages the surface of the shaft of the throwing stick. Hoffman provides a flexible throwing stick with an irregularly-shaped distal end, wherein the ball remains on at the distal end of the stick throughout the wind-up and until the centrifugal force culminates in “delivery” of the ball off the stick at the forward-most portion of the throw. Woolard ('371) discloses bowed leaf springs on the stick that are distal of the ball until the forward-most portion of the throw, whereby the ball is forced over the springs and off the stick. Woolard ('905) discloses a ball with a magnetic portion and a stick with a magnet proximal to the ball, wherein the centrifugal force disengages the ball from the magnet during the forward-most portion of the throw.
These prior throwing toys typically utilize a stick that is long relative to the ball or other toy projectile, for example, 1.5-10 times longer than the length of the ball/projectile. These prior throwing toys, even those that attempt to hold the object on the stick, tend to be difficult to handle, and difficult to control during the throwing action, resulting in inaccurate, inconsistent, and uncomfortable aiming and delivery of the ball/projectile to a target. These difficulties may be due in part to the length of the stick, which makes it difficult and even dangerous for a child to use. These difficulties may be due in part to free-sliding balls/projectiles, which result in dropped balls/projectiles and/or an unnatural throwing action as the user tries to keep the ball/projectile on the stick and deliver it with some force. Or, if some engagement or sliding limit is provided on the stick or ball/projectile, said engagement or sliding limit tends to be inconsistent and unpredictable in performance, again causing inaccurate, inconsistent and/or uncomfortable use.
There are many gun-shaped toys on the market for shooting projectiles, especially for combat play and dart-tag. These gun or machine-gun shaped toys shoot mainly soft projectiles, in the form of small foam darts of less than 1 inch in diameter, for example, NERF™ darts. The most common methods for mechanically launching these small foam projectiles are through the use of air or spring compression. Air compression is used for a popular toy machine-gun-style dart launcher where the foam darts are inserted into a dart magazine and a trigger is used on the gun to release the compressed air to cause the foam dart to shoot into the air. Other toy launchers use springs that are pulled or pushed into a compressed state on the toy, and, when a trigger is pulled, it releases the spring and launches the projectile. As these toys have become more popular, the toy manufacturers have begun to make the toy launchers larger in order to hold more of the same small projectiles and shoot the same projectiles in a quicker fashion, which has resulted in many of the toys being too heavy for a younger child to carry and use, especially for extending periods of play. Recently, several toy manufacturers have started selling toy crossbows (bow and string method) as another means to use a launcher for the small soft foam dart projectiles.
As the toy projectile shooting guns have gotten larger, manufacturers have started selling toys that mechanically launch moderately larger soft foam toy projectiles. However, these larger foam darts are substantially or entirely made of lightweight foam and, because of their light weight, are unable to travel long distances through the air. There is a limit to the size and weight of projectiles that mechanical means such as compressed air or spring compression can handle and shoot. Compressed air and/or springs would not provide enough power to shoot larger and heavier projectiles safely and with any performance distance or accuracy.
There are other larger foam toys on the market that are safe for outdoor play, such as foam footballs. Some of these toy footballs are made of heavier condensed (skinned polyethelene) foam and are made to be arm-thrown rather than by use of mechanical device.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved hand-held launching device able to launch larger and heavier soft foam projectiles with increased distance, speed, accuracy, consistency, and comfort, which typically translate into increased fun and exercise. There is a need for a launching device that throws or “flings” a projectile in an accurate and/or high and long trajectory that is controlled at least to some extent by the user. There is also a need for a throwing toy that is versatile, in that it can be used for many different games and adapted for many different projectiles, for example, generally-missile-shaped projectiles that include a head on an elongated body having fins, water-payload-carrying projectiles, and/or interchangeable heads on finned bodies.